Welcome to this week’s Reading Roundup! Last week I wrote about my final books of 2023, so today I am starting on the new year’s reading material.

I had a slightly bumpy beginning to the reading year. Despite declaring that I wouldn’t read another Reacher book, I had another one on my reservations list at the library. So, I decided to give it a try. Big mistake! It was so dire that I only managed a few pages and then gave up. It is so sad that the author, Lee Child, has handed the series over to his brother, Andrew. The whole character and behaviour of Reacher has been altered and bears little resemblance to the former hero. So, that is definitely the end for me.

So, on to the book that I did read and enjoy…

The book that I selected, completely at random, was Hammer and Crucible by Cameron Cooper (#01 Imperial Hammer series). I read the blurb and thought I would give it a try…

“The interstellar array which links worlds together wakes to find it has enemies…The Fourth Carinad Empire stretches across hundreds of settled worlds and stellar cities, and thousands of light years. The Empire’s people and data are linked by a space-folding gates array controlled by the Emperor and his cohorts. When the array evolves into a sentient entity, it recognizes the Emperor as its foe.Danny Andela, once known as The Imperial Hammer, withdrew from the Imperial Rangers decades ago, her reputation in tatters. She lives on her family’s star barge, waiting to die of a rare old age. She would be the array’s perfect weapon against the Emperor, except she no longer gives a damn—about anything.Then Danny learns that the military disaster which essentially ended her life might possibly have been arranged by the Emperor himself…”

By the way, the blurb that I read was much better than the above, from Goodreads! This was my response:

Hammer and Crucible by Cameron Cooper
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was my first book of 2024!

I really enjoyed this and found the main characters interesting and intriguing. There aren’t many grandmothers in the science fiction I have read, if any! Many of the ideas were also inventive and kept me hooked. The ending had plenty of surprises and set up the series nicely. I haven’t yet decided whether I will continue to read on, but I may do.

View all my reviews

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After finishing this book, I saw that the final episode of a fantastic trilogy was available from the library – brilliant! So that will be my next book and you will be able to read my verdict next week.

Happy Reading to you all!

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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